KER 
KEEPER of the great seal, is a lord by 
virtue of his office, and styled the Lord 
Keeper of the Great Seal of England. He 
is one of the King’s Privy Council, through 
■whose hands pass all charters, commissions, 
and gi ants of the King under the great seal ; 
vrithout which, ail such instruments by law 
are of no force, tlie King in this being a 
corporation, whose acts are evidenced by 
his seal. This Lord Keeper, by the statute 
of 5 Elizabeth, cap. 18, has the same place, 
authority, pre-eminence, &c. as the Lord 
Chancellor of England for the time being. 
He is constituted by the delivery of the 
great seal to him, taking his oath. 
Keeper of the privy seal, is a lord by 
virtue of his office, through whose hands 
pass all charters signed by the King before 
they come to the great seal. He is of the 
King’s Privy Council, and was anciently 
called Clerk of the Privy Seal. 
KEEPING, in painting, signifies the re- 
presentation of objects in the same manner 
that they appear to tlie eye at different dis- 
tances from it, which is only to be done with 
accuracy by attending to the rules of per- 
spective. 
KELP, an impure alkali, obtained in the 
north of Scotland, from different kinds of 
fuci, or sea weed. The sea-weeds being 
dried, are piit in pits dug in the sand, or 
on tlie surface, surrounded with loose stone, 
forming what is called a kiln ; fresh quanti- 
ties being added, and the whole being fre- 
quently stirred until it become semi-fluid, 
which, when cold, forms hard masses. 
Kelp, a fixed salt, or particular species 
of a potash, procured by burning the weed 
called kali. 
KERMES, in natural history, a species 
of the Coccus, which see. 
Kermes mineral, in chemistry, an anti- 
moninl compound of great celebrity as a 
medicine about the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century; in the new chemical ar- 
rangement it is denominated liydro-sulphu- 
ret of antimony. 
The substance is prepared in the follow- 
ing manner : sixteen parts of sulphuret of 
antimony, eight parts of potash, and one of 
sulphur, are triturated together in a mortar, 
melted in a crucible, and the mass poured 
into an iron vessel. When cold it is pound- 
ed, and boiled in a sufficient quantity of 
water, and tl-.e solution is filtered while hot. 
.On cooling, it deposits the kermes abun- 
dantly in the state of a yellow powder 
'j\'hich is edulcorated with a sufficient quan- 
KEY 
tity,of water, and dried. The true kennerf 
consists of 
Sulphuretted hydrogen 20.30 
Sulphur 4.15 
Protoxide of antimony .... 72.76 
Water, and loss 2.79 
100.00 
KETCH, a vessel equipped with two 
masts, VIZ. the main mast and the mizen- 
niast, and usually from 100 to 250 tons 
burthen. Ketches are principally used as 
yachts for conveying princes of the blood, 
ambassadors, or other great personages, 
from one place to another. Ketches are 
likewise used as bomb-vessels, and are 
therefore furnished with all the apparatus 
necessary for a vigorous bombardment. 
Ketches, bomb, are built remarkably 
strong, as being fitted with a greater num- 
ber of ridem than any other vessel of war ; 
and indeed this reinforcement is absolutely 
necessary to sustain the violent shock pro- 
duced by the discharge of their mortars, 
which would otherwise in a very short time 
shatter them to pieces. 
KEY, a well known instrument for open- 
ing and shutting the locks of doors, che-sts, 
&c. See Lock. 
Key, or key note, in music, a certain 
fundamental note or tone, to which the 
whole of a movement has a certain relation 
or bearing, to which all its modulations are 
referred and accommodated, and in which 
it both begins and ends. There are but two 
species of keys : one of the major, and one 
of the minor mode; all the keys in which 
we employ sharps or flats being deduced 
from the natural keys of C major and A mi- 
nor ; of which they are mere transpositions. 
Keys of an organ, those moveable, pro- 
jecting levers in the front of an organ, so 
placed as to conveniently receive the fingers 
of the performer, and which, by a connect- 
ed movement with the valves or pallets, 
admit or exclude the w ind from the pipes. 
When a single key of an organ is pressed 
down, as many sounds are heard as all the 
stops ■which are. then out furnish to that 
key ; in other words, all those pipes are 
heard which are permitted by those stops 
and that key to receive tlie wind. 
Key stone of an arch, or vault, that plac- 
ed at the top or vertex of an arch, to bind 
the two sweeps together. This, in the 
luscan and Doric orders, is only a plain 
stone, projecting a little ; in the Ionic it is 
cut and w'aved somewhat like consoles ; and 
